![]() ![]() However, the software that gets the components talking to one another is developed by Bilberry’s team of data scientists, as is the business end of the system – the complex algorithms that make sense of the information. Similarly, the company uses software from GPS specialist Emlid to transmit information between the camera, computer, screen and sprayer. “Developers of this equipment have plenty of money and it’s a fast-moving sector, which means we can constantly update our hardware without having to design it ourselves,” says Bilberry CEO Guillaume Jourdain. Though the company only started in 2016, it is the first to get a green-on-green system working in earnest on broadacre farms in Europe and Australia thanks to a fast-paced development plan.Ĭentral to this has been the use of off-the-shelf hardware, including electrical components – cameras, cables and screens – designed for autonomous vehicles. Available on – Agrifac, Berthoud, Dammann and Goldacres sprayersįew tech start-ups have influenced the agricultural industry quite as profoundly as Paris-based Bilberry, with its weed-identifying spot spraying kit now a premium option on self-propelled sprayers from Agrifac, Berthoud and Dammann, as well as Goldacres in Australia.Status – Green-on-brown and docks in grassland (green-on-green) available now.The last of the four is German tech firm Bosch, which has worked with BASF to develop a kit that it is now fitting to Amazone sprayers. It has yet to reveal what type of sensors it is using but, like the competition, will start with detecting weeds on stubbles before offering targeted sprays in growing crops. The company has agreements with Kuhn and Berthoud.īlue River, owned by John Deere, plans to start farm-scale testing of its spot spraying system this year. ![]() However, the level of detail they provide mean they could also be used to detect plant diseases and nutrient deficiencies before they are visible to the human eye. ![]() The images they provide require more deciphering, so the system will inevitably take longer to get up and running. Its RGB colour cameras can be ordered on Agrifac, Berthoud and Dammann sprayers and, by the end of this year, could well be available with software to spot several weed species in growing crops.Ĭarbon Bee Agtech has taken a more high-tech approach by integrating sophisticated hyperspectral and infrared cameras into its hardware. ![]() Their systems work a bit like facial recognition technology to spot particular plants based on shape, colour and texture, before making a split-second decision on whether to spray or not.īilberry won the race to market by keeping things relatively simple. However, after a decade-long hiatus there are now four main players combining cameras and artificial intelligence in the so-called ‘green-on-green’ market – Bilberry, Carbon Bee Agtech, Blue River and Bosch. Spot spraying isn’t an entirely new concept – the Silsoe Research Institute first trialled patch spraying in the late 1990s by treating 2x4m cells with different herbicides, though the project ended with the institute’s closure in 2006. See also: 6 budget GPS guidance system options for farmers Early iterations Research at Wageningen University in the Netherlands suggests crops deliver better growth rates and yields where green-on-green spot spraying has been used because the plants expend less energy detoxifying the herbicide. In many parts of the world, fence-to-fence applications have caused a surge in herbicide resistance that has damaged crop profitability – both through extra spray passes and in the exorbitant cost of effective licenced chemicals.īut by targeting specific weeds at single-nozzle accuracy, growers have the option of applying a more potent mix where it is needed, or to use products that might otherwise have a harmful effect on the crop. The systems are only just being transformed from computer models to commercial offerings, but their makers claim they will slash herbicide costs by more than 80% compared with blanket field applications. That’s because there are a handful of technology companies building weed identification kits for sprayers that spot target species and dish out an immediate blast of chemical. Weed identification has been a cornerstone of arable farming for centuries, but it may no longer rely on keen eyes, muddy wellies and an encyclopaedic knowledge of botanical enemies. ![]()
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